Douglas Costa, Blaise Matuidi Doubts for Juventus vs. Manchester United

Juventus stars Blaise Matuidi and Douglas Costa are both injury concerns ahead of the Old Lady's UEFA Champions League fixture against Manchester United on Wednesday.

Manager Massimiliano Allegri told Sky Sport Italia the two suffered setbacks in the 3-1 win over Cagliari on Saturday (h/t Goal). On Sunday, the Italians confirmed both are receiving treatment ahead of Wednesday's contest (h/t Juventus blogger Arjun Pradeep):

Juventus are already short-staffed in midfield, with Emre Can sidelined because of surgery to fix a thyroid nodule. In attack, both Mario Mandzukic and Federico Bernardeschi also missed out on the match against Cagliari, adding to Allegri's concerns.

Costa was substituted at half-time, a move that came as a shock until news of the injury emerged. His replacement, Juan Cuadrado, would go on to score the third goal that put away the Sardinians:

The Bianconeri have ample depth in attack and especially out wide. Alex Sandro came off the bench against Cagliari and started as a winger on several occasions last season, while Leonardo Spinazzola is finally fit again and could also feature against the Red Devils.

Matuidi's potential absence would be more difficult to deal with, however. Sami Khedira has only just returned to action from injury, and both Miralem Pjanic and Rodrigo Bentancur showed signs of fatigue on Saturday.

Sports writer Adam Digby initially thought Pjanic and Matuidi were taken off early in order to rest them, before news of the latter's knock emerged:

Khedira is the likely replacement if Matuidi misses out, but that would leave Juventus with almost no depth. Bentancur was excellent at Old Trafford but ran out of steam late on, and the Italian champions will want to avoid a repeat of that.

Juventus have a healthy five-point lead in Group H and can secure a spot in the next round and the group win by beating the Red Devils. The Italians are unbeaten this season, winning all but one of their matches.